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The Biznautics

They're backand playing Jazzbones Sunday night

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So there I am, playing bass for Red Card as a junior in high school at the University Place Recreation Center. Our lead singer, Dale Coleman, called for someone in the crowd to come up and freestyle rap with him over a jam we had made up that week — sort of a “pass the mic” kind of format.

A munchkin-child with a fully grown beard and an appetite for curse words and syncopated rhythms walks on stage and flows with the sharpness and fluidity only found, at that time, in the local hip-hop co-op Public Bun. The off-duty police officers providing security perspired as this 14-year-old led the audience in the timeless chant “Fuck the cops.” His name was Eric Quinn and he would later join Coleman, Danny C., Dustin Reican, Matt Gephart, Colin Nelson and Mike Moss in a hip-hop organization by the name of the Biznautics.

I remember those days fondly. With Tacoma uber-producer Dustin Reican providing early beat-machine backdrops, Public Bun rapper Jeff Nelson’s little brother Colin providing extra Rhymes with Danny C, and new kid Mike providing half of the turntablism, there was, once again, a hip-hop show worth going to in University Place. Over the years the Biznautics had many musicians come and go within this collective, but the sound remained the same.

I recently spoke with Quinn, the young lad who brought his freestyling talents to the stage 11 years ago. He informed me the Biznautics haven’t been on stage together for more than four years, but that will soon change at Jazzbones, when the group (at least partially) reunites on Sunday for a show benefiting the American Cancer Society. The lineup playing at Jazzbones will have a few alterations, with T.J. Nokleby playing drums, Jesse Landry on guitar, and only one of the two original DJs providing scratching in the background.

I hear the Biznautics plan to play previously released music as well as a couple of tracks off an unreleased album titled, Tacoma Ghost Stories.

Go see it or pay the price.

[Jazzbones, with EvergreenOne, Sunday, March 29, 6 p.m., $7, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.396.9169]

 

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